Shuttle XPC SZ170R8 V2: Small but Powerful

Compact, efficient and incredibly powerful if you spring for the right parts, the Shuttle XPS SZ170R8 V2 has a lot going for it. The small form factor of the motherboard does not take away from its power. Even better is its capability as a portable machine.

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Student Council Presidents are usually those student leaders who are well-organized and have natural leadership skills. There are a lot of anime characters who have the traits to become an excellent Student Council President, so Charapedia asked which characters would make the best one. 10,000 people (46.2% male, 53.7% female) all voted for a total of...

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G.Skill's Ripjaws-X Series PC3-17000 16GB memory kit, which consists of four 4GB sticks, each clocked at 2133MHz, gets reviewed;

TSMC claims that it will stick to planar transistor designs for its upcoming 20nm process "for the forseeable future" in the name of compatibility due to beliefs that the ecosystem, which consists of design tools, IP and design kits, are not ready for Intel's 3D Tri-Gate transistor design yet;

Panasonic has released a new app for iOS devices which allow for remote control of its VIERA television sets via the aforementioned iOS-powered devices;

Microsoft has given its stamp of approval to a tool created by developer Chris Walsh that reportedly allows for existing Windows Phone 7 smartphones that have received 'grey update images' from Walsh to be flashed back to their official firmware images needed in order to remain on the official software update path;

Capcom has released instructions on what gamers should do in order to sucessfully install the Arcade Edition patch for Super Street Figher IV on their consoles, and

Word has it that retail sources have leaked the official release date for Modern Warfare 3, with November 8 being the magic date where the game will be released for sale globally.

Hardware news

G.Skill Ripjaws-X Series PC3-17000 16GB Kit ReviewDescription: The G.Skill Ripjaws-X PC3-17000 kit comes with four 4GB sticks carrying a default clock speed of 2133MHz DDR. I'm not all that big on overclocking my main machine, but the ease of P67 RAM overclocking means that changing the XMP Profile to 1 gives me the speeds I need without even touching my CPU speed. Carrying such large modules at such a large speed, it comes as little surprise that the timings are more relaxed than the black Ripjaws-X we looked at earlier in the year. The kit we've got today comes in at 9-11-9-28-2T @ 1.65v. Normally I would just ignore the 2T and jump straight to 1T, but I actually had trouble with the machine booting.

ECS HDC-I Mini-ITX Fusion Board Review @ MadshrimpsDescription: The HDC-I Fusion Board from ECS has a lot of connectivity options right from the factory: Bluetooth, WiFi, one eSATA 6GB/s along with 4 SATA III ports; two USB 3.0 ports are also offered. The "Turbo" option can be enabled in the BIOS and gives the system quite a noticeable boost.

ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Intel Z68) Motherboard ReviewDescription: Priced at $199.99, the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 is a very well-priced product for something that let us achieve over 5GHz from our 2600k. Compared to the competition, it's an aggressive price point, but there's no doubt that some people don't even need all the features that are on offer on the Z68 Extreme4. For a whole $70 less you can pick up the ASRock Z68 Pro3 we're looking at today. At $129.99 it's one of the most aggressively priced Z68 boards on the market. Are you still getting a Z68 board that you will want, though?

OCZ ZX 850W Power Supply Review at Overclockers OnlineDescription: There is very little one could reasonable fault the ZX 850W power supply on. Actually there’s quite a bit of things that I do like. OCZ has put quite a bit of thought, effort and detail into this power supply. The packaging, the paint job, wires, the clean construction inside, everything speaks highly of OCZ’s efforts here and their efforts are not without results. The ZX 850W isn’t only for show.

Antec Sonata IV Mid-Tower Case Review @Hi Tech LegionDescription: The Sonata IV from Antec is a mid-tower case with elegant styling that promises whisper quiet operation. The Antec Sonata IV is aimed squarely at the HTPC and high end business/SOHO market where aesthetic appeal and silence are the most important characteristics. With a gloss piano black finish and discretely styled front panel, the Sonata IV can look at home in almost any environment. Included with the Sonata IV is a 620 watt Antec Neo PSU, more than enough wattage to power for any mainstream system. The Sonata IV is versatile, with motherboard compatibility for micro-ATX, ATX, and even mini-ITX boards which are now common in HTPC builds. Inside the Sonata IV there is room for four 3.5” drives as well as one 2.5” drive. Outside is space for three 5.25” optical drives. The front I/O puts your most commonly used connections in an easily accessed area, including audio, 2 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0.

Swiftech Polaris 120 CPU Cooler Review @ OCIA.netDescription: It has been quite a while since Swiftech last offered a new air-cooled heatsink. Looking back through old reviews it appears the last one may have been the MCX6400-V, circa 2004. Certainly at that time Swiftech's coolers were well regarded, and they were the only ones to utilize anything like their patented Helicoid cooling pin design for base to fin heat transfer. However in more recent years Swiftech has concentrated exclusively on liquid cooling products. You can imagine my surprise then when I received the notice that I would be reviewing a new air-cooled heatsink from Swiftech, the Polaris 120.

Arctic Accelero XTREME Plus GPU Cooler Review @ Real World LabsDescription: With a cooling efficiency second to none, very low noise levels and the ability to choose between PWM and Manual controlled fan speeds the Accelero XTREME Plus by Arctic is the ideal choice for people who seek the best cooling solution for their graphics card especially in time for the summer period.

Lenovo T420: The Ultimate Business Machine @ InsideHWDescription: Whether it’s their ultraportable PCs, business models or workstations, Lenovo solutions are always touted to be uncompromising solutions, with excellent quality and flawless product support. The ThinkPad series became well-known for the aforementioned features all the way back when IBM still held this company segment. Split into several series, the ThinkPad family comprises several important subcategories: the ultraportable X-series, the workstation W-series, the accessible SL-series, the stylised Edge series, the “green” L-series, and finally, the most popular of all, the balanced T-series. The newest representative of the T-series, T420, is the one that we’ve received for testing, and its intention was to convince us that it’s worthy of replacing one of the company’s best-selling models, T410…

Two New Clues: Is This The Next iPhone? [RUMORS]Description: Clues about the next iPhone are piling up this weekend. First an analyst gave tantalizing details of the upcoming iPhone, saying it’ll be called the iPhone 4S, and then we saw this case design in the graphic above from Asian site Alibaba. Is it real or just another guess at what Apple might do, based on rumors and mockups?

Panasonic Turns Your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch Into A VIERA TV Remote Control With New VIERA Remote AppDescription: Panasonic is proud to announce its new VIERA Remote App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the App Store. Panasonic has made watching and browsing your VIERA TV even easier with the new VIERA Remote App. The app allows you to quickly and intuitively navigate all the tools and features on your VIERA TV including 3D settings, SD card access and VIERA Connect over WiFi by simply activating the function within your Viera TV's menu.

Speedlink Strike FX Wireless Gamepad Review – XSReviewsDescription: Speedlink are a German company who are well known for making budget peripherals, such as mice, keyboards, cables, speakers, controllers and headsets for PCs, laptops and consoles. With the Strike FX, they have created a Playstation-like wireless controller which is compatible with both Windows PCs and the PS3 itself. Read on to find out how the Strike FX shapes up.

Sapphire Edge HD: A Compact Ionisation @ InsideHWDescription: PCs in miniature enclosures are nothing new. However, when this enclosure is merely two centimetres thick, and the graphics card in the PC NVIDIA’s ION 2, what is your first thought? This might just be the new ideal candidate for the living room media centre? We thought the same…

Microsoft-blessed tool fixes WP7 updating for gray installsDescription: Developer Chris Walsh has put out a tool to help keep Windows Phone 7 updates going for those with unofficial versions of the Walshed tool mends NoDo installs loaded using the ChevronWP7 hack so that they can keep receiving official updates from Microsoft. Unlike most unofficial firmware tricks, the new tool is officially sanctioned by Microsoft as a way of getting the phones back on the official path.

Millions of Password Reset Requests Slow PSN Restoration, Japan Halts RestartDescription: Sony flipped the switch on PSN Saturday, but a significant chunk of the PlayStation 3 gaming population is still offline. The problem? A bottleneck in the tubes as millions of PlayStation Network users attempted to reset their passwords at roughly the same time. In Japan, however, Sony's home base, there is a completely different issue: the government is unsatisfied with Sony's new security measures.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Release Date RevealedDescription: Whoops. The good ship Modern Warfare has sprung another leak. In this instance, our anonymous retail sources have provided IGN with a confirmed street date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Rumours have been circulating around the web for a little while, but IGN can now confirm a release date of November 8. This will almost certainly be a global date.